60 Minutes/Vanity Fair Poll: January Edition

What better time is there than the New Year to take stock of ourselves and resolve to find what Lincoln termed "the better angels of our nature"? The country has been hit hard by bad weather, a tough economy and long term unemployment. America is known to be a nation of optimists, it's in our DNA. We know things can and will get better when we pull together and summon some old fashioned self-reliance.

According to Emerson, it is a recipe comprised of vision, determination, hard work and a can do spirit among other things.

Sprinkle in a little faith, hope and charity and America's best is yet to come. To all of our friends out there, keep going, the American Family needs everyone's best self. A most happy and healthy New Year to you all from the 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair Poll. And now, January's results:

Half of Americans say they wouldn't care if there was a lockout next year and there were no NFL games to watch. That is surprising when you factor in the television ratings behemoth that the NFL has become. It is by far the most watched programming in the country, and only a few shows (we won't name others but...) even come close to it. In 2010, eight out of the top ten rated shows for the year were NFL games. That said, 31 percent figure they'll settle their differences because everybody has too much to lose if they don't. Ten percent say that if there's a strike they might spend less time on the couch with their Buddy Weiser, and a hardcore nine percent said that it would flat out ruin their sports year.